England’s centre-back crisis deepened on Tuesday when Gary Cahill became the
third defender to be ruled out of the World Cup qualifier against San Marino
on Friday and potentially the crunch fixture in Montenegro next Tuesday.

Down and out: Gary Cahill receives treatment for his knee injuryPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

With John Terry having retired from international football and Rio Ferdinand embarrassing Hodgson with his sudden withdrawal from the squad on Sunday night, Cahill joined Michael Dawson in being ruled out of the game on Friday through injury.

Subject to an assessment on his knee this week, Cahill could also miss the match against group leaders Montenegro and leave Hodgson with only one of his original centre-back choices for these two pivotal qualifying fixtures.

Of the remaining four central defenders in his England squad, Chris Smalling, Steven Taylor and Steven Caulker have five international caps between them while Joleon Lescott has been struggling for regular first-team football at Manchester City.

It all raises the possibility of Hodgson asking Michael Carrick to step in as an emergency centre-back alongside Lescott on Friday. San Marino will pose virtually no­attacking threat and Carrick, who has played centre-back for Manchester United, could then offer his renowned ball-playing qualities from a deeper position.

The more obvious solution would be to pair Smalling with Lescott, although that would mean selecting two players who are not among the first-choice centre-back pairings at their respective clubs.

Both have started 14 Premier League games this season. Taylor and Caulker have been playing more regularly at Newcastle and Tottenham respectively but have a combined 74 minutes of experience at senior international level.

The injury to Cahill compounds the decisions of both Terry and Ferdinand – England’s two leading centre-backs of the past decade – to make themselves unavailable for these crucial fixtures. It also exposes the lack of experienced cover.

Phil Jagielka and Phil Jones are both injured, while previous back-up such as Jamie Carragher and Ledley King have disappeared from the international stage since being part of the World Cup squad less than three years ago.

Taylor, 27, was called up after last being involved in the England senior set-up in 2007 when he was an unused substitute against Germany.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “If I am lucky enough to be given that chance over the next seven days it will be one of the proudest moments of my playing career.”

Taylor trained with the England squad on Tuesday at their St George’s Park base but Steven Gerrard, Ashley Young and Kyle Walker missed the morning session and instead worked in the gym. All three are expected to be available on Friday when Hodgson must also chose between Leighton Baines and Ashley Cole at left-back.

Although Lescott has struggled recently to command a regular place in the Manchester City side, James Milner is adamant that his club team-mate can help England to take charge of their World Cup qualifying group over the next week. “I spend a lot of time with him,” Milner said.

“He prepares every single day for training really well. He is ready and raring to go. Whenever he has played for us he has been brilliant. It won’t be too much of a problem. We are blessed to have a lot of players in the centre-half position although it is disappointing not to have Rio in this trip.”

Milner has featured regularly for England under Hodgson and on Tuesday also reiterated his own personal willingness to play in a variety of different roles for the team. “Hopefully it will be a positive that I can play in a number of positions if there is an injury or a sending off. I work hard for the team and I like to think I ­create a lot. The team comes first and always has done. It is about the team winning trophies and not individuals.” Asked if he would even play centre-back on Friday, he said: “If I was asked to I would, no problem.”

Despite being only seven at the time, Milner can also still vividly the infamous World Cup qualifying match in 1993 when England fell a goal behind against San Marino. “It was after about eight seconds – it was one of those moments when everything seemed to stand still. It just went deathly quiet. Hopefully that will not happen on Friday.

"The longer the game goes on without scoring, when it gets close to half-time, it can play on your mind if you have not scored and you can make forced passes. You should remain patient.”